Some old photos we took in Garden of the Gods.
These are not new prints so in some ways they are better but they are smaller. If I find better ones, I'll replace them.
I really loved this place. I could hike all over here and I never felt any danger here. People didn't bother me, even strangers. If I saw one they'd just nod and go on their way. It was a different time in a lot of ways.
I think there was a flower there I was trying to capture but it didn't work out right.
When I was here, I always felt at peace. If I came in to the garden with problems they were eased. I didn't think it was a spiritual thing. I just felt power from those mountains. They had been there probably since before time and they were still there. My problems always seemed small by comparison. I did feel a kind of spiritual oneness with the mountains. People would tell me later that I should have been scared to be out there alone with no weapons. People went up in those rocks to do dope at night. I was never in the Garden at night so I wouldn't know about that but I didn't doubt it. It would have been the perfect place.
I've got some others if I can find them of Tom climbing these rocks that were taken at the same time. This one about is me of course. I had more chest than Tom.
He was seldom without a cigarette. I never smoked. That rock he's sitting on is a wonderful example of the carving that the Natives of this area did. It was really beautiful. Today, he'd probably be arrested for sitting on it but in those days you could freely climb all over.
Now they require permits and if you are a climber who uses those little things you pound into the rocks to hold on to, I forget what they are called, you are told you can't use them even if you are lucky enough to get a climbing permit.
